Good Monday morning, Seekerville! I (Carrie) am excited to kick off our new monthly blog series - One Thing That Works For Me - with one of my favorite people on the planet, marketer extraordinaire Amy Lokkesmoe aka author extraordinaire Amy Lynn Green! Welcome, Amy!
Know Your Bribery Tiers for Marketing Strategy
by Amy Lynn Green
I’ve seen a *lot* of author marketing. I’m in year eight as the fiction publicist at Bethany House, which puts me right there alongside authors, answering their questions, checking in on what worked and what didn’t, and analyzing sales stats. Then, when my debut novel, Things We Didn’t Say, came out in November 2020, I got a chance to switch to the other side of the desk.
Do I have time to do everything as perfectly as I would like? Of course not! Have a learned a thing or two about strategy? Mmmhmm. And here’s a big one I want to share that’s been helpful to me.
Basic idea: Authors know they should promote. But they aren’t always sure how to market effectively.
If that’s you sometimes, listen in! Lots of practical tips coming up.
(Disclaimer: Using jargon like “leads” and “bribe” can feel impersonal, like people are only useful if they give us money. This is not true. When you’re interacting on social media and in real life, every person is inherently valuable, even your cousin who thinks romance is dumb or that one reader who always asks when your book will be free. However, when it comes to deciding how to use your time and money, we’re going to focus on book sales.)
The Categories Defined
Stick around the marketing world long enough, and you’ll hear people talking about temperature when referring to how to create customers. Here are some examples for the writing world.
Cold: Someone who has had little or no interaction with you or your books. Such as…
· A librarian at a conference.
· A member of a Facebook group for your genre.
Warm: Someone who has interacted with you before.
· A casual follower of your Instagram or Facebook page.
· Someone who downloaded your free or discount ebook.
· A reader who joined your email list to enter a multi-author giveaway.
Hot: Someone who has bought and enjoyed your books before.
· “Super-fans” on social media who comment and leave reviews.
· Your street or launch team members.
Key Strategy Questions
When I think through a promotion I’m planning, I first ask myself, “What am I trying to get people to do?” (Leave a review, pre-order a book, join my newsletter list, etc.) Then, I ask, “What category are these people mostly in, and what is needed to motivate them to do that thing?”
Which leads me to what I charmingly call…
Bribery Tiers!
Not everyone needs the same incentive to do something you’d like them to do. Once you determine what category a group is in, you can move on to the strategy thoughts below. This is as close as I can get to the process I use for planning. (Without all the ridiculous rabbit trails…you’re welcome!)
Option One: I’m making this request to mostly cold leads—not people on my social media or newsletter list already, but totally new readers!
Good for you! This group might not need a lot of motivation to be interested in your book, but they’ll probably need an incentive to stay connected with you in some way.
What Might You Bribe Them For?
· Newsletter subscriptions
· Social media follows
· Event RSVPs
· Anything else that takes them from “cold” to “warm.”
What Might You Bribe Them With?
· Giveaway prize: your book(s) plus something else (others’ books or a themed item or two) would be ideal. (No need for a huge prize—we’ve found at Bethany House that complex prize packages don’t get any more entries than giveaways of several books.)
· Newsletter freebie: aka, “lead magnet.” This is something—a short story, a novella, a Top Ten Swoony Kisses PDF, whatever—that people get when they sign up for your newsletter.
· An event or contest: whether it’s a virtual trivia night with other authors or a coloring contest, this dangles the bribe of “fun experience.” (Note: online book launch parties don’t count here. Those are mostly for warm and hot leads.)
My Example: I started a one-day book discussion for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (a book similar to mine). It had questions and a few simple giveaways, and I invited followers on my social media and total strangers in reader groups online. About half of those who joined hadn’t read my book. My last post in the event included my social media links with an invitation to join.
Option Two: Since I’m mostly sharing this promotion on my own social media, most of these people are warm leads already.
Great! This group doesn’t need to be persuaded to connect with you (they probably already are), but they might need an incentive to support or purchase your book.
What Might You Bribe Them For?
· Pre-order campaigns
· Requesting your book for purchase from their library
· Sharing a giveaway or event
What Might You Bribe Them With?
For this group, a mid-level incentive might be:
· Feel-good factor: if you’re asking for something simple, like adding the book on Goodreads, tell readers how excited you are about the book and how GR adds help people find it. This is often enough motivation for people to take action.
· Pre-order incentives: I usually recommend keeping these simple, and I prefer digital goodies to ones you have to mail for time/effort purposes. (Ex: soundtrack playlist, downloadable art, recipes, deleted or extra scene, etc.) Having some simple goodies might make warm contacts more likely to buy a book.
· Signed bookplates and/or simple author swag: unlike cold contacts who need more universal prizes, these people would care about something specifically branded to you and your books.
My Example: I announced on Facebook and Instagram that I’d do a giveaway (of cute stationary) when my book got to 100 reviews on Amazon and 200 on Goodreads. I also talked about how much authors appreciate reviews. A week later, we’d met the goal—most people just needed a prompt.
Option Three: This is aimed at people who already love my books. Hot leads, one and all.
What Might You Bribe Them For?
· Sharing your cover reveal on social media
· Leaving a review
· Going “above and beyond” in some way to spread the word about your books
What Might You Bribe Them With?
· Sneak peeks: early excerpts or even full advance copies for a select few are GOLD here.
· A handwritten note or personal email: the #1 thing street team members for Bethany House authors said they appreciate is personal interaction with their favorite authors.
· Exclusive online event: with a smaller group, to make it more special.
· Personal prize: if you really want to give something away, make it something simple and close to you, like a DVD you love or your favorite kind of tea.
My Example: I asked on my social media and in my newsletter for volunteers to participate in a cover reveal for The Lines Between Us, my 2021 release. 88 people responded. The only perk was getting the prologue and first chapter of the book.
Concluding Thoughts
Going through this process has saved me time, money, and sanity. I hope it helps you too as you go out there and share about your book.
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